‘So what, do we just empty the vials into the water?’ Percy asked.

‘I guess. That’s all the instructions say,’ Kassorith replied, retrieving the three ingredients from his spatial pin.

The organizers had spaced out the matches in the second phase of the tournament more – partly to give the participants a chance to rest, and partly to milk the audience as much as possible. There was a three-hour break between fights, and another two days between rounds.

Since Percy and Kassorith had fought in the very first match, they had plenty of time to go through the ritual now that the latter had gathered a full set of ingredients. They already had a fair idea of who their next opponents might be, so they knew the enhanced physique was unlikely to help much during the sixth round, but there was a good chance it would during the semifinals.

After forging a large, cylindrical tub out of steel mana, they flew to the base of the pillar, collecting cold water from the ocean. They’d even asked around beforehand, to make sure the salt in the seawater wouldn’t mess with the ritual. Returning to their room, they soaked into the frigid liquid. The Thess’kalan sea was always cold – especially this far from the equator – but it didn’t feel too bad. Percy credited that to Kassorith’s grade and the diluted traces of his ancestral physique – the very thing they were about to improve.

He once again suppressed the temptation to snatch the vials from his host’s hands. Now that Kassorith had a full set, Percy could potentially undergo two rounds of the ritual if he brought the ingredients back to his main body. Still, it didn’t make sense to burn bridges with the man at this point. Sighing, he watched Kassorith uncork the gemstone containers, emptying them into the bath.

The effect was immediate.

A faint red glow spread in the water, causing it to bubble. At first, Percy was afraid it would boil away at this rate, long before the two days were up. He soon realized that the liquid wasn’t flying away from the bath, however, but inwards – trying to seep into Kassorith’s body. The man’s scales did nothing to stop the substance, the magical mixture aggressively finding its way through the gaps between them. Kassorith’s heart started beating faster, violently pumping blood through his body. It made Percy feel quite hot, but that didn’t last very long.

An indescribable chill gripped his host’s bones the very next instant – thanks to the Abyssal Moss, no doubt. It reminded Percy of Micky’s soul-freezing mana. Only, the feeling wasn’t restricted to certain mana channels this time – it freely permeated every centimetre of flesh. Then came a third sensation – a wave of numbness that caused their muscles to alternate between tensing and relaxing, leaving Percy and Kassorith weak and unable to control their body.

‘The instructions didn’t mention how unpleasant this would be,’ the Thess’kalan groaned.

At least, they’d had the foresight to keep the water level low enough to avoid drowning. It was barely deep enough to cover their face if they ducked, but they could easily breathe by leaning back against the wall and keeping their nostrils above the surface.

‘Suck it up,’ Percy said. ‘There are millions of people out there, watching your fights with envy. I bet they all wish they could be in your shoes.’

‘The fuck’s a shoe?’ Kassorith asked.

‘Now you’re just messing with me. Surely you know that most sapients in the universe have feet,’ Percy replied, rolling his eyes.

His host chuckled, not denying it.

‘Say, what happens if you go through the ritual twice?’ Percy asked, changing the topic.

He wasn’t going to complete his first set of ingredients until after their next victory, and he was planning to spend his last reward on the affinity-changing treasure for his friends. This meant that a second bath wasn’t a realistic option. Even so, he couldn’t help his curiosity.

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‘The more you do it, the stronger the effect – that’s how the leaders of the Ancestral Lineage Sect built up their physiques to their current level. But the closer your body is to the person you’re inheriting from, the smaller the gains become,’ Kassorith explained.

Percy frowned.

‘How much smaller?’

‘A lot.’ Kassorith shrugged. ‘A second bath would only give me something like five percent of the first one’s benefits. A third would do even less. Once your body surpasses the source of the Heartblood, the gains become insignificant. Why do you think the ancestors have only made it this far after thousands of generations?’

Percy nodded in understanding. For people like him and Kassorith who lacked the Ancestral Lineage Sect’s bloodline, undergoing a second ritual didn’t make much sense. Without the ability to preserve the purity of their blood, they’d only be wasting valuable ingredients. It would take several rounds to see any notable improvements past the first bath, and most of that effort would be lost on their kids.

Multiple baths were only worthwhile for those with the bloodline. Leaving aside the fact that they could pass all the benefits over after their death, their kids were also more likely to inherit the bloodline themselves, thus giving the original owners of the physique another avenue to preserve their lineage.

Still, Percy was an outsider.

He wasn’t planning to stay on Thess’kala much longer, nor did he care about using the ingredients efficiently. Even if the ritual worked on a human, there was a chance it wouldn’t be very effective. With a lower starting point, and a body less compatible with the physique, he might need multiple baths just to receive the same benefits as Kassorith. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to look for a second set of ingredients, should the opportunity present itself. If he didn’t find an affinity-changing treasure that he liked by the end of the tournament, it might be worth claiming a second vial of Heartblood.

In any case, Percy and Kassorith said nothing more.

The uncomfortable sensations intensified over the course of the first day, peaking around midnight. Neither Percy nor his host were having a great time, but they’d chosen to spend their time thinking about their next match instead of complaining about the ritual.

Technically, their opponent was still up in the air, since they hadn’t stayed in the stadium long enough to watch the fight after theirs. However, the odds were heavily stacked in favour of a certain gravity user. Suffice to say, they were operating under the assumption that they’d be fighting him.

The man was supposedly good at deflecting hostile spells and throwing his opponents off balance without spending much mana. If the rumours were true, they were in for a tough fight – especially since the gravity user would now know not to give them enough time to enchant their constructs.

Percy had some ideas on how to counter him, but nothing concrete yet.

The ritual stopped torturing them by the dawn of the second day – evident by the scarce rays of sunlight reluctantly spilling into the dim cavern. Their body had already begun to acclimate to its new state, over eighty percent of the ingredients having been absorbed. In theory, they could already end the ritual without missing out on much, but nobody in their right mind would consider wasting even a drop of the priceless materials just to save a few hours.

Not long after nightfall, Kassorith grew a little impatient. The ritual wasn’t over yet, but he shifted slightly inside the container, testing his body. Percy perked up too, curious about the changes.

Flicking their forked tongue, they realized they could perceive the temperature of their surroundings much more accurately than before. The walls of the cavern felt warmer the closest they were to the tunnel’s entrance, due to bathing under the gentle sunlight the whole day. The difference was barely worth mentioning, but it was quite telling that Kassorith was now capable of detecting it.

Even the bathwater felt less cold, albeit for a bunch of different reasons. The liquid itself had warmed up due to their body temperature, while their flesh had grown colder after the ritual. At the same time, most of the Abyssal Moss had been consumed, and their resistance to cold was now heightened.

Clenching and unclenching his fists, Percy experienced a surge of strength now that the numbness was starting to fade. It was hard to tell exactly how much stronger they’d grown, but he felt they could rip their previous self apart with their bare hands if they wanted. As for the potency of their venom, they had nothing to test it against, but Percy didn’t doubt it had also risen to a whole new level, along with their resistance to it.

There should still be a few hours left until they exhausted the lingering traces of the ingredients in the bath – and nobody had come looking for them yet – so they weren’t in a rush to end the ritual. That said, Percy couldn’t help but pull up his Status, wondering if it had anything to say about Kassorith’s new body.

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Mutations:

* [Greater Thess’kalan Physique] – Greatly enhances one’s physical strength and the toughness of their body. Greatly enhances one’s resistance to high or low temperatures and sharpens their thermal sense. Greatly enhances one’s resistance to toxins and the potency of their venom.

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